CIDA in Focus - April 2012

Latest News

World development report 2012 launched in Canada

From left to right: Sudhir Shetty, Co-Director, WDR; Christina Rojas, Carleton University; Lois Brown, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation; Rosemary McCarney, President and CEO Plan Canada; Markus Goldstein, Senior Economist, Africa Region, World Bank

The World Bank launched its World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development in Canada on March 22. "The World Bank report recognizes the importance of gender equality by focusing on reducing women's mortality rates and closing gender gaps in education; improving women's access to economic opportunities; increasing women's voices in the household and in society; and changing attitudes and actions, not passing on inequality between women and men to future generations."

Read the full statement by Minister Oda.

Canadian humanitarian aid to help Syrians

Canada, through the Canadian International Development Agency, is providing immediate support and much-needed assistance to the victims of violence.

"The violence in Syria is increasingly horrifying, causing death, injuries, and displacing thousands from their homes and communities. Canada remains very concerned for the people affected by this conflict," said Minister Beverley J. Oda.

Read the full news release.

Progress on transparency

In December 2011, at the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, in Busan, South Korea, CIDA, along with other donors and partner countries, committed to make the full range of information on publicly funded development activities, their financing, terms and conditions, and contribution to development results publicly available.

CIDA now has:

• Interactive maps of CIDA-funded projects in 40 countries and two regions through geomapping
• Six types of data sets available on Open Data
• More information in Project Browser providing information on results and links to partner websites and proactive disclosure reports

Learn more about CIDA and Aid Transparency.

Stories from the Field

Increasing men's participation in family health improves maternal, newborn and child health in Honduras

Monitor and traditional birth attendant, Don Ramon, singing with the group from the community of Las Crucitas as part of a training session.

In many parts of Honduras, family health is still considered the responsibility of women. Men do not usually get involved—nor are they expected to—in the care of pregnant women and children. Many women and children continue to suffer from ill health and to have limited access to health services.

But as the result of a CIDA-funded project in the departments of Copán and Santa Bárbara, many Honduran men have started taking on new roles becoming active and engaged participants and advocates of maternal, newborn and child health.

Learn more about how CIDA is helping Honduras.

Promoting adolescent health in Bangladesh: How peer support helped one girl delay pregnancy

Shilpi was married off by her parents against her will. She was only 15. Thankfully, her husband Rashid agreed to delay having children despite pressures from his family.

Shilpi was only 15 years old when she married Rashid in 2008. After her wedding, Shilpi joined Bakul Kishori, an empowerment group that provides adolescent girls with the tools needed to gradually change cultural practices, particularly those pertaining to early marriage and pregnancy.

Learn more about Shilpi's story.

Important Dates

International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action

April 4, 2012

CIDA supports mine clearance projects in several countries, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Sudan. You can also join the United Nation's Lend Your Leg campaign.

Get the video and transcript.

Landmines: A World Wide Problem

World Health Day

April 7, 2012

World Health Day marks the founding of the World Health Organization in 1948.

Read Minister Oda's full statement.

World Malaria Day

April 25, 2012

According to the World Health Organization's World Malaria Report 2011 there were 216 million cases of malaria and an estimated 655,000 malaria-related deaths in 2010.

Preventing and Treating Malaria: Canada's Contribution

Canada has long been a world leader in funding insecticide-treated bed net distribution programs. Canada is now focusing its efforts on improving access to treatment for the poor, who sometimes have difficulty getting to a clinic or a hospital in time.